Survival of the Fittest
by Sue Doe Nyhm
Summary: The Lone Wanderer and her sister have developed quite a reputation in the Wastes as heros. But what happened when some old friends pop up and realize that she is not the same person she used to be? T for violence, drama, and pure action! R&R
1. Ch1: The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

**1) Thanks to all of you so much for reading this story. please review this to tell me any errors you see, if you love it, if you hate it, if i should add anything, if you want to see anything happen...ANYthing just let me know**

**2) these first couple of chapters are slow, so bear with me. there will be more action and plot as i go on but these first couple are just going into the minds of our main characters and explaining who they are...i am warning you now because i dont want someone to read this and be ike "what! theres no shooting?" and just close out of this...you have been warned**

**3) just some info you should know about how this story is different from the game. The only major difference is the time. It is still in the future and everything, but instead of the nuclear war being 200 years ago and them being locked in the vault for that whole time...i shortened it to 7 years. i wanted the characters to remeber life before the vault (and if not my story would not work...like at all)...oh and the lone warrior (or wanderer, sorry i change the name a lot) has a sister! just for you fyi**

**Summary: So this story is basically about growing up, maturing, survival, love, finding yourself, refinding faith, trust, and balance. The story is basically that the lone wanderer and her sister live in Megaton. They start out as very different people and have thier share of fights. One day, the lone wanderer hears some people escaped a vault that she used to know...well they end up being people she does know. How does she cope with finding her new friends, because the Wastes has changed her dramatically. And will they survive this horrid Wasteland, or will the Wasteland consume them first? Read on to find out :)**

**ENJOY!**

Sara's POV

I have always wondered how I ended up here. Life wasn't always this way, at least that's what they say. Kids used to go outside and play in the sun, they wanted to grow up and be cops or firemen, they even used to go to school. Life now isnt like that. It is constant worry, fear, and survival of the fittest. I slowly rolled over into my side and realesed a sigh of depression. I wish I could remember what life was like before the world went to hell. Instead I am laying on a dusty old couch waiting. Waiting for what you might ask? I think the same thing myself. Maybe it is for my sister to find the solution to our crappy life here, or maybe it is for my shift to start at the saloon I work at, or maybe it is for my life to magically fix itself….well the last part hasn't worked in the last two years we have lived in the Wastelands, and as the hailed Lone Warrior said, "Nothing in life comes by itself, you have to work for it."

Oh, my dearest sister. Hero of these barbaric Wastelands for saving our town from an atomic bomb, for creating peace between blood thursty vampires and the small town of Arefu, for defeating countless brutal raiders from futhur distruction, and for keeping me cooped up in this filthy house all day. I could hear her snores on the floor above me. Sometime at around three a.m. I heard her return back home from the mine fields. She quickly ran right up stairs and I heard the familiar crinkle of the bed springs as her body fell onto the bed, not even realizing I was up the whole time. Don't get me wrong, I love my sister, more than life itself, but at the same time she doesn't understand that I need to live a little. She had to go out on another stupid mission for Moira and left me worried sick! With all of the raiders , mole rats, and wild dogs running a muck what sister wouldn't be. No matter how much I begged she wouldn't let me accompny her outside of Megaton.

"The world is a dangerous place." She always reponds to me and leaves me in the 'saftey' of this house. Why she goes on these silly missions, I will never know.

"We could just stay here." I tell her. "This place is safe and we have all we need. You don't have to go on these silly missions."

"Nah, Sara." She responds to me. "I have to go. You have to stay here. You wanna know why I go out on these 'silly missions', it's all for you. We need protection, weponds, and caps. There are things I get from helping people outside that we couldn't get by sitting on our butts here…like friends who can do stuff for us. Take this house for instance, if I didn't stabilize the bomb then where would we be living? Plus, I have been asking everyone if they had seen Dad, now practically all of the Wastes is keeping an eye out for him."

She sounds well and good and all, but no matter what she doesn't understand me. Let's say this hero and her teeny sidekick don't think on the same wavelength…ever!...But I always think about him, Dad I mean. We havent seen or heard from him since we left the vault two years ago. A uprising in our vault caused our dad to leave, eventually we found our way out too but Dad's gone somewhere. My sister doesn't talk about it, even though I hae tried to bring it up mulitple times.

"We cant change the past, only the future." She tells me when I start to miss Dad. "Tears wont bring him back." I have never seen her cry, ever. It seems like as soon as we walked out of the vault and saw the world for the first time my sister became a completely different person. She used to have very close friends, now she trusts no one. She used to enjoy the little things, now she doesn't care at all. She used to tell me everything, now she tells me nothing. All emotion seems to be sucked out of her. Survival is the only thing of importance, other than finding Dad. In only two short years my life was completely turned upsidedown. Nothing is the same, nor will anything be the same.

So here's my life now: start with waking up every morning checking up on my dear sister first to see if she has returned or is stil out in the hell lands. Second, I get myself ready for the day and make sure I am well armed and dressed for anything…who knows, a group of raiders could evade and burn this place down any minute. Next, I repair armor or weaponds or what ever else needs repairing. Cant have us running on silly missions without guns in tip top shape and armor good to go. After all that is done I check up on Moira to see if any special items have been brought in, my whole life revoles around making sure our house is fully stocked and safe, making sure my sister has all needed equiptment and that it's functional, and making caps to fund the first two things. Yea, not too exciting. The only thing I remotly look forward to is working with Gob. That goul was kind enough to let me have a job at his saloon. I mean sure I only make minimal caps and sure I clean up after drunk people all day, but its enough to get us by. My sister is the one who brings in most of our caps. It is her caps that by us our equiptment, mine make sure we get food on the table. Sometimes Gob will let me have a left over draft or plate of food if I do a good job, which Is all the time. Does she know, um what she doesn't know wont hurt her! Its what she gets for leaving me on my own.

So, this is life in the wastelands. It can be a short one if you are not careful; but someday it will b better. Life here isnt too bad unless you are not willing to work towards your own survival, so it is just like that past. The world we are living in now is only a replica of how it was, the only difference is that we only have ourselves to depend on. There is no government hand outs here, no nonprofit organizations, no police force, no fire fighters. But if each one of us can over come that, if we can over come the mind set of 'just survive' maybe we can go back to hlpin each other. I miss the days when I would walk through the vault and people would say hello, or when we would thow surprise birthdays, or when we would play tag. We can go back to that. If we as humans can look within ourselves to see past these primal instincts to only look after ourselves, we can help each other out and become great again. It's only a matter of time.


	2. Ch2: The Lone Wanderer

**Author's Note:**

**1) Thanks everyone so much again for continuing to read this little story :)**

**2) Keep on reviewing and bear with me through the 'borring' parts :)**

**3) Now we are going to dive into the Lone Wanderer's Point of View, this chapter will be a little more interesting. **

**Thanks again! and Enjoy!**

Lone Wanderer's POV (7 hours before):

I have always wondered how I ended up here. Life wasn't always this way, I remember a time when I was safe. I could curl up in my own bed and not worry of fire ants blowing me up or play tag with my friends without having raiders shoot us. Life now isn't like that. It is constant dog-eat-dog world where only the rule breakers and adapters survive. I quickly dodged behind a house as I heard the beeping of a mine about to blow. I wish I could rewind time to what life was like before the world went to hell. Instead here I am in a God forsaken mine field on a mission for the most insane, but well equipped, person in the world. Why bother risking my life you might ask? I think the same thing sometimes. Maybe it is to get on her good side to make weapons cheaper, or maybe it is to help make the Wastes a little safer, or maybe it is to help fix my own wellbeing later on…well the last part hasn't worked in the last two years we have lived in the Wastelands, and as I always say, "Nothing in life comes by itself, you have to work for it."

That is the motto of my life. Everything I have ever gotten since I have lives in Hell has been because I worked for it. All of the caps we have is from me searching garbage bins and swiping them off of rotting corpses. The nice missile launcher I have on my back is from me killing a raider. The safe house I live in is from me screwing a bomb not to blow. Are you seeing the pattern. This is and has always been life, and everyone seems to understand this, but her…my dearest sister.

I crouched low to the ground as I heard quick snap of a twig. Stealthily, I surveyed the area to locate the source of the noise. Seeing no immediate threat, I checked my handy Pip boy slung over my right wrist.

My sister dearest. Residential cutie pie of Megaton for her refined manners to old coos like Mother Maya, for her courtesy to every settler, for taking the time out to help every living person, and for letting people walk all over her. I can just picture her right now curled up in her warm bed smiling from her dreams of dancing fairies and toys. She has probably been pouting all day for me not letting her come out on this mission, which a girl like her should never do. Someone as dainty and fragile as her cannot survive the danger and horrors of the Wastes. She would not have the guts to kill a raider at point black, to kill a poor little puppy running to kill you, to take a bullet and keep fighting. She doesn't realize the hell I go through to ensure her safety. Don't get me wrong, I love my sister, more than life itself, but at the same time she doesn't understand that I need to know she's safe. She had to create a dramatic scene about not being able to go and left me ticked off! With all of the things I do for her and risking my life for her what sister wouldnt be. No matter how much logic and reasoning I throw at her she refuses to grow up and accept responsibility.

I froze as I saw a red dash show up on my Pip boy in the north eastern direction. An enemy must be near. Adrenaline pumped in my system as I slowly crept through the tall grasses toward the little dash signaling a threat. As soon as my pet dog, Dogmeat I like to call him, caught a whiff of the sent he crouched and growled. That's when I heard it, the howl of a mad, wild dog. So a wild dog is up ahead? I pulled out my assault rifle as I peaked over to see the head of the dirt colored dog. Dogmeat went berserk as he howled and ran toward the other dog. I quickly aimed to shoot the dog, managing to critically injure it in a sneak attack on its left shoulder. Within seconds the dog was down and Dogmeat was prancing back towards me, wagging his tail.

"Good boy, Dogmeat!" I whispered to him as I set forth to continue collecting mines for Moira. She has some stupid survival manual that she is creating to help people survive in the Wastes. Psh, what a stupid idea I thought when I first heard it. The only way to learn how to survive is to get out and experience it for yourself, reading no book on mines, raiders, and what not is going to help you. But here I am collecting mines for her to dissect and learn about for her book. It's better to do this though, I get more rewards from doing this. Having connections is ALWAYS something to make and keep. Having a connection to the only supplier of weapons and medical aid in Megaton is always a good thing, and who knows when I will need to use her. Plus it's good to have an excuse to go out and look for Dad.

I always think about him, Dad I mean. We haven't seen him since we left that freaking vault two years ago. My Dad found a way out of that horrid vault and left as soon as he could. We followed too, but too late; he was long gone before we could get out. Do I take it personally that he left, no. He needed to leave when he did, but I wish he said where he was heading. Of course he didn't because he didn't want us to follow. I chuckled as I thought of how well that turned out. What would he think now of his daughter, the Lone Warrior as people call her, wandering though the Capital Wastelands smiting raiders and saving the world. My sister always tries to bring it up. "Have you found him? Where is he? I miss him? I want to help look for him!" Each time she mentions him I shut her up.

"We can't change the past, only the future." I tell her when I see her start to miss him. "Tears won't bring him back." I try to be strong for my sister, if I am weak she will see that and in return be weak also. There is no room in this world for weaklings. My sister, she is weak. She lets her emotion control her actions, like the temper tantrums she throws when I leave. I'm trying to show her how to be strong, how to think logically, how to analyze before you speak, but she refuses. I stop her before she cries, if I let her continue it will only build depression and rage in her. Our goal in life right now is surviving. The other goals of finding Dad, building a life in society, and being happy all come with time and self discipline.

Remembering the goal of this little task, I walk in past two old houses and find my way back onto the main street of this sad little neighborhood. The road was crumbled, the houses shattered, and the trees dead. Long since abandoned, this neighborhood is home to millions of tiny circular black mines that blow up when you come close to them, so each step of mine must be calculated with precision and accuracy. Why and how are all of these bombs here, no one has the slightest idea, but no one has ever actually inspected the place to find out. Why waste your time and life? As I reach the street I walk to the opposite side and squat down to disarm a bomb that is about to blow. As my hands pull the wire and successfully rig it not to blow I feel a sharp pain on my right hip. I also hear the unmistakable sound of a shot gun. I grunt and squeeze my hip with my hands to try and soothe the pain, but I hear another shot and a hole forms right in front of me. Getting up as quickly as I can, I grab my assault rifle that fell from my hands and limped to the closest house. I slam my back against the moldy wood on the back of the house and cry out as I put pressure on my hip again.

The red blood started to seep through my talon armor. I gritted my teeth in the agony of the shot, but my mind refocuses on my attacker as I hear another shot. CRAP! Dogmeat is now growling fiercely toward a two story building in the center of the neighborhood. I pull out my own shotgun and reload it with fresh bullets. After doing so, I ignore the pain to the best of my ability and crouch down behind a car parked along the road so that I can have access to the assailant without risking getting shot. I find him through the scope and pull the trigger when his head comes into view. After three shots, one to the arm, one missed, and one to the head, I stand in victory. That explains the bombs. I start to walk over to the concrete building to see what treasures he had gathered for my taking, when my leg gives out on me. A fresh wave of pain erupts in my body as I expose my wound to dirt and dust.

I pull out a stimpack and inject the liquid health into my body. The pain is minimized for the time being, but I know with the bullet still inside my body I will need to see the doctor, or do it myself. Standing back up I proceed to climb the stairs, gingerly on my injured leg, and reach his hideout. After finding another stimpack, some bullets, his shotgun, and some purified water, I left the neighborhood and return back to Megaton.

I returned to our house at around 3:00 am. Not wanting to wake my sister up, I snuck up the stairs and went straight to bed. I will worry about my hip and the mines in the morning. Right now I am too exhausted to think straight.

So, this is life in the wastelands. It can be a short one if you are not careful, but luckily I am. Life here is Hell, and don't let anyone sugar coat it. Survival is the most important thing here, things like trust, happiness, quality of life, and peace are all things of the past. There is no government hand outs here, no nonprofit organizations, no police force, no fire fighters. Each if for their own. You can either swim or sink, and I will always be a swimmer. You want something here, you got to go out and get it yourself or else you die. Death is a daily thing you got to experience and move on. The past is behind us, different circumstances and different ways of living. No use thinking back because life will never be 'normal' again. Make do with the card you are given, and cheat to get ahead.


End file.
